November 3

Today was such a great day!! Dusty was here the whole time, which is nice because his work schedule is picking up (but that's a good thing!) I've had lots of great visitors- Rachel was here yesterday and Christin came today (both friends from school). I love hearing about what's going on at school and in the lives of the people that I spent every day with before I got sick.

I've also loved all the mail! It's the highlight of my day. I forgot to mention that I got a ton of cards from a Sunday school class at Sacred Heart in Winchester last week. They made me smile so much...I've reread them about 4 times, showing them off to different people, and they still bring me so much joy. The kids must've been told two things: I was sick and I was going to be an eye doctor. The drawings were amazing. No matter what the kids drew or wrote, there were glasses somewhere in the card. I'll post a few pictures. I've gotten many other cards and even a package from Danny and Mary Hardesty. I can't thank you all enough, it makes me so happy when they deliver the mail.

Back to my day...The doctors start coming in around 7:00 every morning. This morning, Dr. Formal said "I hear you want that g tube out of your stomach." I said "yes" and then the new resident took it out right there! Now I just need to get rid of the catheter and I'll have all the tubes and extra things gone from my body.

Natalie from OT and Tracy from rec therapy co-treated today. I laid on my stomach and played wii sports. Dusty laid next to me and played as well...and I beat him in baseball! (Even with him cheating and pitching when I wasn't looking.)

We did a standing group in PT. Everyone that was at the point of standing came. There are usually 3 PTs that help each person (one on the shoulders and one for each leg). We took turns and even played some corn hole! One guy took his first steps (assisted) and it was so incredible. I stood 3 different times and gained time with each. It's harder on the body to stand still, especially after sitting for so long. My blood pressure drops and I start to feel dizzy when that happens. Fortunately, I don't have any trouble with the treadmill because we start moving right away. They told me that it'll get better the more we stand because the muscles with get stronger and gain tone. The big news is that 4 different people felt my left quad working and contracting when we stood!!!

This evening, I went to the greenhouse and planted a plant in the pot that I had painted with Marichris a couple weeks ago. I had gotten so much enjoyment out of having my own little garden, so this was actually really therapeutic and I think I'll have to go back to plant more things.

My friend, Stephanie, is coming Wednesday-the weekend. We were roommates all 4 years at Bridgewater and have been friends since we were 2. She just started OT school and I know she's gonna love Natalie! She hasn't seen me since UVA, so I'm really excited.